Illegitimate
by aloeplent
Summary: The purebloods were a race near extinction and long forgotten. Small classes of Aristocratic Vampires acknowledged them and continued to pay their allegiance but they too were dying out. It had been years since any of them truly had been together in any one place so when Anastaji heard about the Academy and its night class she was bemused and desperately curious.
1. Rise

**~I do not own any of the characters other than Anastaji and I relinquish all rights to those characters and any non original content to Matsuri Hino and publishers. Thank you for reading.~**

The purebloods were a race near extinction and long forgotten. Small classes of Aristocratic Vampires acknowledged them and continued to pay their allegiance but they too were dying out. It had been years since any of them truly had been together in any one place so when Anastaji heard about the Academy and its night class she was bemused and desperately curious. She had spent the past few hundred good years in and out of a languid slumber so any old change didn't phase her but this was special. Her half-brother had become quite involved it seemed and she wanted to protect him always of course, in her own special ways.

Coming out of such a long sleep wasn't easy, even for a pureblood though they found it easier to take it in their stride. She was no different so it took her a while to even get the message to an old friend that she needed a boost.

Rido as always was happy to oblige her. He came in the night on the third day she was awake and they talked for hours. They spoke of what had happened to their family but this was all old news and before long she was feeling weary again.

Shizuka and her attack on a hunter family were enough to pique her interest and they talked about this for a while in ways that only purebloods would do amongst each other. Her family was so similar to theirs in some ways and others not so much. The Hio family had a penchant for madness the Kurans simply did not possess. Being only half a Kuran, Anastaji found it easier than others to get along with Rido, even considering his distasteful nature. She quite enjoyed listening to his stories, the human hunting romps. She was quite removed from the human world and though she thought she would maybe like to get to know one of them, it was hard having them so breakable and so so easily fooled. They also speak of the senate.

Knowing his motives before Rido knew them himself she avoided discussing her plans to go to Cross Academy. Not wanting to jump the gun on getting to the point of the matter she indulged him in discussion almost far more than she could tolerate before they got down to the business at hand. She needed to feed.

Rido as so many years ago was quite willing to submit that essential part of himself to Anastaji as he knew she had the upper hand and they were family after all. Rido would never want to risk a fight with her nor the opportunity to use her for gain. One pureblood is good but two is nearing ultimate powers. Being outcasts the two stuck together, usually. She never did like how he would treat his youngest son.

"How is Shiki?" She picked at her fingernails and dragging them along the wood of the table noted their sharpness.

"I haven't seen that boy for a long time. He is attending that academy. One day I must pay him a visit, he and our other boy."

"Kaname, is he well?"

"Exceedingly." Rido rolled his sleeve back and she noted the impeccable materials used. His ostentatiousness and love for luxury hadn't subdued itself in the past few hundred years it seems. Rido was as luxurious as ever. Outstretching his hand he rested his face in his palm and stared at her.

Without hesitation, she drove her fingernail into the veins of his wrist and waited for the droplets to roll before bringing his wrist to her mouth. They both much preferred this for the intimacy of biting didn't suit either of them much and it was always one way for them anyway. Anastaji had rejected any plea for her own blood from Rido, her powers in his body would be far too great of a risk on even the purebloods. Besides, they only way to keep the power balance falling on her side was to make him feel needed. Rido was a lonely soul for much of his life and he would have to fight brutally to find any attention. She had made herself god in his eyes just by needing him. He looked so much like her father sometimes, so much like her brother others. He looked most like her father when her mouth was on his wrist and he became weaker and her power grew again. It reminded her of her father's sacrifice not that her father loved her at all, she still found a way to think fondly of him.

She drank for as long as she thought he could take and before hs instinct would make him snap at her. She felt as though her body had hit the reset button and her insides were warmed. As warm as a Vampire could feel. "They say you know, drinking from a pureblood leads you down the road to misery," Rido mumbled as his head rolled over onto the table, he would have to rest a while.

"All of us are doomed then. Father, your sister. Kaname. You. We all take from each other I don't think there is a single one of us left that is safe from that path."

"You are right, I just felt that I should say it. You mustn't take advantage of me anymore, Ana. I have been awake all these years while you have been sleeping I may well be stronger than you now. Just because I love you-you shouldn't abuse it. I don't mind so much though. I will stay in the mansion for a few days, then I will hunt. I shall spare you the details."

They continued to have frank and honest conversations as only they could together before they assumed their separate personas and went their separate ways. Anastaji the day before he arrived had sent correspondence to Kaien Cross had opened the academy that her brother was attending asking for a meeting with him. She had decided to begin immediately without waiting for any response back, Kaname would dare not say no though maybe he had become bold with the small time she had been gone. She didn't need any transportation as she could move faster than most though she wasn't ever the fastest and she had arrived in the town before the sun was down. To save face she arranged for a driver to take her in the next afternoon straight into the academy grounds.

She prepared her outfit feeling concerned that she had not put more thought into her returning look. She considered many things before settling for her black silk gown she had worn to a ball years ago that she had attended alone. Despite being quite a lavish dress it sat on her in a way that looked almost casual, like it was not so unusual for a person like her to be out in something like that. Though the summer heat did almost nothing for her apart from making her feel slightly sickly the dress with it's open back made her look less vampiric. Her hair had grown long and unsightly so she sharpened some fabric scissors and expertly fashioned it back into the chin-length bob she favors and appreciated the thick bounce it had. She cut herself a fringe and wore it slightly that she would have in the past.

Under the harsh artificial lighting of the hotel room, she could vividly see the redness of her hair that was hidden away in the everyday light. It was evident that she was a Kuran for those who have known the lineage for years. A Newer vampire would not spot it so easily though because though she is a pureblood she is still a mutt. The illegitimate child of Haruka and one of the Hanadagis. Her father rejected her as even his, his love for Juri was immovable and her conception was his greatest regret. She never knew her Mother and like most of her other family, they were asleep. For all her life she lived with not been wanted and her only company was with Rido.

Not that she minded, of course, she liked to be alone. Anastaji loved the thrill of being the wildcard one of the only mixed purebloods they were unsure of what she could do, and so was she. It seemed every battle something new could happen. It was believed that she was the only living illegitimate pureblood which put her in a position that nobody quite knew how to react too. This may be why she only truly rose to anger at Rido because she felt deeply for his son, Shiki. Shiki was both her blood relative and the other illegitimate child and she felt only the desire to protect him.

She brushed her newly chopped hair and wonder if Kaname could feel that she had arrived. She could feel him in the air as she remained breathless and stagnant, waiting simply for the afternoon to come. She could feel he was not as well fed as she and felt up for a fight, come what may.


	2. Enter

**~Hello and thank you for coming to read the second chapter! Special thanks to Myra K Kuran who is my first reviewer and I really hope you enjoy this chapter, and please keep and eye out for chapter 3! Thank you again :) ~**

The afternoon came and as always for Anastaji it came fast. She had been dressed and ready for hours so all that she had to do was wander down the hall and into the car. Car journeys made her feel uncomfortable especially when the driver was a human, but she didn't want to alert any of the Aristocrats of her arrival prematurely even though they would lend her a car in the instant. She politely thanks the man on the door before leaving, she has no important belongings here so she left everything in the room and if necessary she would ask someone to pick them up for her.

The human who was driving her was a tall, well-built man who she assumed must have come from farm stock, judging by the leathered skin and earthy scent of his blood. "Have you just moved to the city, Driver?" She asked him as she ducked into the car opening her own door before he had the chance too. Anastaji listened as his blood began to race faster, sloshing around in his body and she compared it to the stillness of her own.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm looking to make some money for the family." She nodded cordially and stared out the window. The academy was only ten minutes away and they had eight left.

"Do you have any children, Driver?"

"Yes ma'am" She decided to leave him alone, not that she ever attacked humans but it was in her nature to play with them a little. She simply could not help it. She could hear that he has asked her a question but she ignored it.

The surroundings of the Academy were beautiful and I doubt that they would have been able to get a small group of Aristocrats to join up if it wasn't for the trees surrounding it in such density. Of course, if Kaname has asked them personally they would not be able to say no but he rarely would wield that power. There were many ways in which she was alike to her half-brother and it showed that the Kuran blood truly ran thicker than water, even if our family was broken. Anastaji could rarely find the reason to force another to do her will and in her long life only found the to do it a few times, almost always to protect Rido from what he really deserved.

The afternoon was sunny and she felt out of place, not that Vampires actually were affected by anything such as the sun but she truly did prefer the night. As they arrived at the gates and the driver buzzed the intercom she could feel the buzz of Vampire activity she could literally smell Kaname a half mile away. On the outside, she would appear calm and focused but inside her, she felt excitement she hadn't felt since the old times. It must have been so peaceful for her baby brother up until now she had been gone for so long and with Rido away too he must have been living so well. It is nice to be the only Pureblood, the competition for who is the best was always exhausting and long gone are the days of order. The Kurans were once a unified family and they lived with a structure as most pureblood families do. To the rest of the Vampire race, they stood on equal ground, all quite simply more powerful than they ever would be. As in any family, the reality of that was far more complicated.

She would be willing to bet a large sum that Kaname had noticed her as soon as she did he and was on the way to Kaien Cross to let him know. She knew they would have discussed her arrival before she came. She supposed her younger sister would be here too, in her human form of course so toying with her would be some sort of fun. She barely knew Yuki before the whole ordeal so she didn't care much for her other than in abstract terms. She was so much like her mother, Juri, who she didn't much care for.

The driver hopped out hurriedly to let her out and she obliged him saying thank you like she meant it. She could sometimes appreciate humans in their desperate struggle, she couldn't imagine what it was like to know that one day your life will end no matter how hard you try. Dragging about a fragile body in a violent world must be an unfriendly burden to bear. She had a human friend once before Rido wanted her which she, of course, did not survive. Anastaji stayed mad for ten or so years but that what as long as it took to remember she would have died anyway.

It was almost instantly that the human students noticed her stepping from the car. Her black silk blew lightly in the wind and with her hair floating easily she must have looked quite the sight to them. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible whilst being dignified enough to not sneak around she went as fast as humanly possible through the main entrance. There was a concierge with a highly capable human receptionist that directed Anastaji straight to the headmaster's office without prompt from her. Walking through the halls and up many stairs in silence, she memorized the layout and eyed up all the students, this was clearly the day building as there was no lingering scent of Vampires apart from her baby brother and what seemed to be Takuma Ichijo. She knew him only through his Grandfather who was quite an irritating obstacle in her life but she held nothing against Takuma, whom for all intents and purposes seemed like a lovely Aristocrat.

Before she had the chance to knock on the door Kaien Cross flung the door open and greeted her heartily. "Welcome to Cross Academy! It is so nice of you to show your interest in my one-of-a-kind establishment!" He was smiling so brightly his eyes had all but fully closed and he swung his arms with enthusiasm. She could tell that he was being overly energetic to try and throw her off the fact that he was actually a very capable Vampire hunter, but he wasn't so naive to think she had done no research and so the whole schtick felt forced.

"I simply couldn't resist coming to see. I am amazed at how this has all come together, Cross. Not without my baby brothers help of course." She stalked into the room not bothering to take the chair he offered, "You wouldn't ever be able to have all of those Vampires happily in one place without someone like him. Not to say you aren't capable yourself. It goes without saying that if you feel you need Kaname in the room whilst speaking to me you certainly aren't comfortable in your will over me?" Kaname's smell was closer and thicker in the air and if her heart could have beat it would have been beating faster.

"You are right, but that is only because unlike your brother, I don't know you as a friend. I would very much like too though! I have never seen you in my travels before and I hope to know you better, Ana!" Kaien persisted in his show of kindness but he saw no point in being any other way, Kaname had told him that she was not an unkind pureblood and she may be of use in keeping Rido at bay when the time came.

When the door swung open Anastaji did not turn around right away she instead inhaled deeply enjoying the moments of anticipation, the thrill of her idea of him.

"Hello, Ana. Have you come to see me, finally?"


	3. Glass

**~This is a quick update from me as I already had this chapter written. I will from now on be publishing nightly until the conclusion. Thanks for reading! ~**

"Oh Kaname, I have simply been dying to see you. How has my baby brother been? I see you have been quite busy." Anastaji turned to face him and saw that he, of course, looked the spitting image of the young man from a few hundred years ago. "But why didn't you ever come to see me?"

They stood facing each other the tension so palpable it put Kaien on edge more than he would have liked. Kaname was not sure whether embracing her would be appropriate or put either of them at risk for a fight. However, Ana reading this clearly on him she knew it was safe to take the first move and she ran into his arms clutching her arms around his neck. She felt so differently towards him than she did feel towards Rido. She could tell her whole world to Rido and it would be safe with him but she would never day be anything more than strong. She could be a child with Kaname because he would never hurt anything or anybody out of purely wanting too. Seeing him again was like being young and fresh. But like children, he was not to be trusted.

He pulled her in tight by the waist and her feet lifted only just off of the ground. She dug her nose into his neck breathing in deeply, a sweeter smell than Ridos, but thinner and less nutritious. "Have you been eating well, Kaname?" They moved away from each other swiftly and had planted themselves on either side of the room giving Kaien emotional whiplash.

"I eat well enough. I don't want for anything." She tilted her neck slightly to the side, her newly short haircut exposing her veins. Reading his split second movements she knew the way his eyes lingered that he was hungry for something.

"I've heard there is a pill, made by the very night class in your academy, Cross. Very impressive." He eagerly nodded his head and looked at her and Kaname. It was clear to him that she wasn't talking to him at all but to her brother.

"Oh yes, thank you. I am very proud of my class. Speaking of my class, I have a disciplinary committee briefing to head too so I will just leave you two youngsters to chat among yourselves." He spoke with positive animation before becoming briefly serious, "I trust you will look after yourselves."

Kaien took his leave with a warning glance and left them alone in the office.

"Are you really that hungry, Kaname?" She shook her head lightly again, following his eyes.

"I am not hungry, it has just been while since you have been around. It is quite unusual to have such a pure scent." They had unknowingly begun to stalk each other, circling slowly around the edges of the office. The glass in the cabinets had begun a gentle vibration and had begun to feel the strain of the battling energies the siblings were throwing.

"You must smell Rido. I would have loved the first blood to have drunk be yours but I know I can never trust you to come through, not for me." A true point of hurt for Kaname was that his half sister was never allowed to truly be part of the family but this was something he never allowed her to know. He would never let her drink until they were both ready. He would wait for some sort of conclusion that could come from their shared childhood. Not until she forgave him for not being the brother she wanted.

"You would not come for me equally, Ana." They had stopped circling and the glass had stopped vibrating. A gentle sadness had filled the room as often it did when they saw each other. They often mourned for their childhood but it was even worse for Ana, whose Hanadagi blood allowed her far more easily to slip into depressive moods. Hanadagis by nature were reclusive and very easily troubled by the past. She had the fiery Kuran blood that allowed her to push through but she couldn't feel truly at home in either of her families.

"It is nice to see you, Kaname. You are beautiful as ever."

"You are always radiant, Ana. I am sorry I could not come when you woke up." She nodded to him and they both sat down, looking each other over in silence. In another life and born of another mother they would have been the closest people in the world. "I must tell you that you will be seeing Yuki soon and that I wish you to please be kind to her. It may seem like a lot to ask but she is fragile and afraid, I do not want her to come to any harm."

"I won't touch the girl. I won't speak to her." They nodded to each other again.

"Another thing, she had a friend named Zero. He, unfortunately, if a Level-E and at some point soon will need to be controlled. I want you to stay away from him too, we shan't be needing any help." Kaname felt that he needed to say this because he knew exactly how Anastaji was, she would want to help. Her history with Rido meant she had become protective of the weaker of the species and didn't like to see them suffer. She also had a special rivalry with Shizuka Aoi and would love to take what was hers. The long and exhausting past of Vampire meant that there were always unsettled scores and things were never as simple as they seemed.

"I don't really need to listen to you, but I will respect your wishes for as long as I see it important. How is Shiki?"

"Shiki is well, he is still with his companion. I think it would be good for him to see you again. I'm sure you would wish to see him, he was your favorite." Ana smiled softly to herself and thought to Shiki as a small boy. He was so much smaller than his Dad and so much sweeter.

"I would like that very much. How is Takuma?"

They spent a long while catching Ana up on the happenings of the past hundred or so years, the mundane stuff Rido would know nothing of. Yuki was still human and Kaname openly admitted his intentions to Ana. Ana resisted the urge to spit and tell him it was a fruitless pursuit but did not want to risk sounding anything like Rido once did. Besides her interests in Kaname were only every purely in powers interest seeing as though they are the strongest surviving Kurans. Yuki was the runt of the litter but Kaname insists that she does not hold it against her. Yuki did always have a sweet disposition and thought Ana would deny it she found herself wanting to be warmer because of her.

"Mind if I stay here for the night? I would like to see how it is to share a house with all of those Aristocrats without incessant nattering from the council." Kaname deliberated for a short while before offering her a place in his room, but only for the one night. They waited for Kaien to return and when he did he did so with a student.

Zero walked in muscles tense and a cold sweat brewing on his hands and forehead. He saw Ana right away as a Vampire of Kaname's caliber and this only sent him deeper into his anxiety.

Kaname shot a warning glance to Ana who knew right away that this was Zero and more than that he was the Kiryu boy. She was fascinated as she sniffed around, memorizing the murky scent of his blood and she could feel he was in pain. She decided that she would pursue him tomorrow as she did not want to push Kaname whilst he was playing hospitable baby brother.

"We were just leaving. Anastaji will be staying at the Academy tonight to discuss matters with me. How are you feeling, Zero?" Ana watched with a tugging smirk on her face as the young white-haired man defiantly glowered at her brother, not saying a word. The poor thing was experiencing all this pain but only had the life experience of his past human life span. He was like a newborn child trying to force its way into birth through unspeakable pains. Ana felt desperate for him, but only for a moment.

She linked her arm with Kanames and they strolled out together. On her way out she languidly ran her fingers along the other boys forearm and felt a small flash of angry as he hastily jerked away. Feeling spurred on by the challenge she eagerly awaited the morning.

She rested her head on her brother's shoulder as they walked side by side to the dorm together and for a small moment, all was right in the Kuran family.


End file.
